Historically, the American public has had a curious
relationship with the actual facts of George Washington's life. As definitions of "American
virtues" have shifted over time, our grasp of the historically accurate traits and events that
constitute his life have changed. From the famous cherry tree story, to Washington's (apocryphal)
wooden teeth, the biography of Washington has been enlarged to mythic proportions. In an
attempt to separate fact from fiction, academic biographers have delineated a skeletal view of
Washington's "real" life.

On February 22, 1732 in the British Commonwealth of Virginia, Mary Ball Washington gave
birth to her first son. Although she could not have possibly understood the importance of his birth
at the time, his name, George Washington, would someday become synonymous with the
founding of the United States of America.

Washington's childhood offered few omens of
greatness. He was one of ten children (six by Mary Ball and four by George Washington's father's
first wife) in an aristocratic Virginian family, bent almost exclusively on growing tobacco and
preparing timber. Washington received his primary education at a nearby churchyard school and
then was sent to a boarding school 30 miles away. He enjoyed learning about the practical world
(how to count one's goods and be a good gentleman farmer), but was not versed in the literary
classics of the day, nor did he excel in reading or languages. In Washington's early teens his
formal education came to an end.

When Washington was 16, he met Lord Thomas
Fairfax, an Englishman who owned an enormous tract of land in the northern neck of the colony.
Fairfax gave Washington his first job, surveying the lands of the Shenandoah Valley. Through his
surveying work, Washington was able to earn enough money to begin buying plots of land. By
the age of 21 (now employed as the offical surveyor of the county of Culpeper), he owned more
than 1500 acres, all purchased out of his own accounts.

In 1752, Washington's older
brother Lawrence died, endowing George with care of his Mount Vernon estate and asking him to
replace his office as an adjutant general of the colony. His responsibilities included overseeing the
militia of the districts. In 1753, Washington successfully carried a British ulimatum to the French
in the Ohio River Valley. A year later, he served as a colonel in the French and Indian War.

By the late 1700s, the public knew well of Washington's military skill--just at the time the
American Revolution was taking shape. In 1775, Washington was appointed military advisor for
New York, defending it from British attack. Weeks later, the Second Continental Congress
appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the entire military, a position he did not seek and asked
not to be paid for.

In the beginning, Washington's military maneuvers consisted mainly of
sharp correspondence with the British. He lost his first battle, but was overwhelmingly successful
in New Jersey. By 1781, with a bedraggled but
determined regiment behind him, Washington forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
The war was won.

Washington's success next brought him the duty of presiding over the
Constitutional Convention in 1787. By the time the Constitution was enacted, Washington was
elected president, a position he took with reluctance. He served two terms, managing the affairs
of a nation in the debt of war, and refused a third term in 1796. Three years later, he died at
Mount Vernon of what physicians today say may have been strep throat. The country mourned as
it never had before.

This painting of Washington at Yorktown hangs in the Capitol Rotunda, and was painted by
Constantino Brumidi.